Talks on Joint List of Israeli Arab Parties Fail

Three of the four major Arab parties, Hadash, Ta’al and Balad, failed Sunday to agree on running together in a revived Joint List for Israel’s Oct. 27 elections after Ta’al leader MK Ahmad Tibi rejected a proposed Knesset slate.

The internal Arab-led Reconciliation Committee, which helped form the Joint List in 2015, had been empowered by the three parties to decide the final lineup after disagreements in negotiations, The Jerusalem Post reported. Its proposal gave Ta’al the second and ninth slots, with newly appointed Hadash chairman Yousef Jabareen first and Tibi second.

“There has been a breakdown in the talks,” a Hadash spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post. Hadash and Balad leaders welcomed the proposal and agreed to work according to it, while Tibi was the only party leader to reject it. Two members of the Reconciliation Committee later announced their resignations, according to a KAN News report cited by the Post.

Hadash said it welcomed the committee’s decision and that “we made every effort to reach the broadest possible agreement, out of a commitment to respecting the public’s wishes.” The party said: “Now, the responsibility lies with all of us to move forward without delay and prepare for the joint campaign, increase voter turnout among the Arab public, and ensure the strongest and broadest political representation possible.”

Jabareen said only “A large and strong Joint List will work with all its might to send the Netanyahu-Ben Gvir-Smotrich government home.” He told the Post last week the talks were navigating “certain difficulties that arose over the parties’ demands,” and that the door would remain open for Ra’am to join until the deadline for submitting Knesset lists, although negotiations with Ra’am had stalled.

Polls cited by the Post have shown the Arab parties could win more seats together than separately. The current Arab-Israeli parties in the Knesset are Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al, while Balad remains outside the Knesset and continues to fail to pass the electoral threshold in polls. The Joint List’s strongest result came in 2020, when it won 15 seats; in 2021, Ra’am became the first Arab party to formally join a governing coalition under Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.